By MONIQUE KUZEFF
TEA towels are to blame for a fire that destroyed a popular Olinda restaurant’s bar on Thursday afternoon.
Fire crews said a combination of organic oil, hot towels – fresh from the dryer – and a heated room caused the tea towels to ignite, with flames quickly spreading around the bar at The Ivy.
The bar fire was contained by CFA crews from Sassafras, Monbulk, Kallista and Olinda before it spread to other areas of the restaurant.
Olinda CFA captain Steve Donner said he was able to find the area the fire started and realised the combination that caused it.
“When organic oil heats up it like a compost, it just combusts like petrol does,” Capt Donner said.
He said the restaurant owner was standing out of the front of the building when crews attended and reported there was no one inside.
“There was no one in the building so, fortunately, there was no need to apply a rescue,” he said.
“When we arrived, there was smoke showing from outside the building and inside the level of smoke was reasonably high.”
Capt Donner said police reported that it was a small fire and that a fire extinguisher would do the job.
“Firstly, we gave the fire a few bursts of dry chemical powder which helped to lower the flames,” he said.
“The breathing apparatus crew then came in to completely extinguish all the fire with some short bursts of water to help minimise the damage.
“The aftermath left a significant amount of smoke and ash.”
